On the eve of the bar exam, many students are either excited and want to get the bar over with in order to put what they know into practice or they are still wishing that they had a few more days (or weeks) to study.Either way, the exam is imminent.Remaining calm and getting proper rest are crucial components for bar students this week.

As this chapter of bar review folds into the final chapter of academic legal study and culminates with the bar exam, it clearly marks a definitive rite of passage.Current bar takers, like thousands before them, will ride the metaphoric roller coaster this week with intense highs (“Wow, I aced the Contract's essay!”) and intense lows (“Oh @%&#, I forgot to use the cases in the MPT library!”).Along with gaining their license to practice law, they will now be able to relate to this distinct and enigmatic collective experience of taking the bar exam.

While anxious, sleep deprived and emotionally drained, bar takers draw upon something deeper to invoke their self-efficacy and find their inner strength to endure this final segment of their long bar review saga.As I ponder their state of mind, a haiku I recently read with my daughter seems fitting.This poem illustrates and captures the feeling that most bar takers have felt in the last few days of their review.

Thick fog lifts---

Unfortunately, I am where

I thought I was

-George Swede

The clarity that comes during the last days of bar review does not alleviate the sheer dread that most students still feel. They remain students about to take the bar exam with their futures in their hands. They have arrived at one of the most significant experiences in their lifetimes and are embarking on the official start of their legal career.

However, happy endings take a few months to determine. In the fall, when bar takers receive the much anticipated packet of materials from the bar association congratulating them on passing the bar exam, their bar exam saga will truly end. For now, I wish them luck, legal fluency and patient attention to detail.